A STUDY TO UPGRADE THE LIFESTYLE OF FISHERMEN COMMUNITY IN MYANMAR. Pyone Mo Ei

Transcription

1 A STUDY TO UPGRADE THE LIFESTYLE OF FISHERMEN COMMUNITY IN MYANMAR By Pyone Mo Ei THESIS Submitted to KDI school of Public Policy and Management in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF PUBLIC POLICY 2010

2 A STUDY TO UPGRADE THE LIFESTYLE OF FISHERMEN COMMUNITY IN MYANMAR By Pyone Mo Ei THESIS Submitted to KDI school of Public Policy and Management in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF PUBLIC POLICY 2010 Professor Jin PARK

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4 ABSTRACT A STUDY TO UPGRADE THE LIFESTYLE OF FISHERMEN COMMUNITY IN MYANMAR By Pyone Mo Ei Myanmar has plenty of natural resources and enough water resources. These precious resources perform well in country economy development. As a consequence annual growth rate of GDP is gradually increased year by year. Similarly fishery sector became sharply increased in finding the national income and support for the enough domestic consumption. The development of fishery sector has increased, however the rural communities depending on the fishery is still lag behind in development. This paper focuses on the development of lifestyle of this fishermen community in Myanmar. To give the transparency recommendations, a sample survey was implemented in the main fishery rural area and revealed the requirements and weak point of this rural community from this main fishery area. The major portions lags behind in development are education, social welfare and so on. The main objective of this study is to upgrade the lifestyle of rural fishermen community, exploring the weak points and their requirements through this study. i

5 Copyright by Pyone Mo Ei 2010 ii

6 Acknowledgements First of all, I would like to give my special thanks to Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) training center. I express thanks for supporting this scholarship program. Secondly, I would like to expand my thanks to Korea Development Institute (KDI) School for this wonderful academic year and treating us like their family. Thirdly, I am particularly indebted to Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development (MNPED) for this great opportunity. Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries must also be added in my acknowledgement. Without the provided information by the ministry, I can t imagine to complete my study. Finally, my heartfelt thanks go to my thesis supervisor Professor Jin Park. I wish to thank you for your encouragement and valuable comments in writing this kind of meaningful thesis. U Win Tun (Associate Professor, Meik Htii Lar Institute of Economics) and Daw Than Than Myint (Lecturer, Yangon Institute of Economics), thanks for supporting and giving me the wonderful advices. In my acknowledgement I can t omit the important persons for my life, who are my parent and my sibling. I also wish to express my gratitude from my heart to all of my friends and a special friend, who provided continuing support during my study in Korea. iii

7 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.. i ii iii 1. I NTRODUCTION Literature Review Basic and Essential role of Fish and Fish products Technology in fishery sector and Water Resources Management Research Methods FISHERY SECTOR IN MYANMAR Geographical Background Basic Topography Facts Geographical Circumstances for Fishery Industry Types of Fisheries Policy Implementation by the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Functions and responsibilities by the Department of Fisheries Policy Implementation in Fishery sector by South Korea Private Sector in Fishery Industry Contribution factors from Fishery Sector 26 iv

8 3. FISHERMEN COMMUNITY IN MYANMAR Labor Participation in Fishery Sector General Finding in Main Fishery Region REQUIREMENTS AND DIFFICULTIES OF MYANMAR FISHERMEN COMMUNITY Field Survey and Analyzed Results The Root Causes and Obstacles of Difficulties RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION APPENDICIES A: Sampling Method 64 B: Sample Survey Questionnaires Form and Frequency Tables 65 C: Frequency Tables from Sample Survey 68 BIBLIOGRAPHY v

9 LIST OF TABLES Table Page 2.1 Number of Ice Plants by State and Division Per Capita Fish Supply by Year Distribution of Employed Population by Occupation and Industry (Labor Force Survey, 1990) (By Industry) 3.2 Distribution of Employed Population by Occupation and Industry (Labor Force Survey, 1990) (By Occupation) 3.3 Urban and Rural Population in Main Fishery Area Analyzed the Difficulties of Myanmar Fishermen Community 52 vi

10 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 GDP Fulfillments by Sector 2.1 Union of Myanmar 2.2 Myanmar Coastal Area and Fishing Zone 2.3 Rakhine Fishing Ground 2.4 Ayeyarwady Fishing Ground 2.5 Tanintharyi Fishing Ground 2.6 Inshore and Offshore Fishing Industry 2.7 Organization Structure of Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries 2.8 Total Area of Aquaculture Ponds 2.9 Household Expenditure for Food and Beverages 2.10 Fish Production by Type of Fisheries 2.11 Export of Fishery Products 2.12 Fishery Products Export by US Dollar 3.1 Essential Non-Food Household expenditure in Main Fishery Area 3.2 Small Fishing boats by type of Powered and Non-Powered 4.1 Age Distribution in Fishery Industry 4.2 Other types of Occupations 4.3 Daily Income 4.4 Labor Cost 4.5 Cost of Fishing Gears 4.6 Number of times buying Fishing Gears 4.7 Types of Education studied by Household Head 4.8 Number of Students 4.9 Cost of Education 4.10 Medical Expenses Page vii

11 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ALF - Academy of livestock and fishery science BKD - Bee-keeping Division DOLF - Directorate of Livestock and Fisheries DOF - Department of Fisheries EEZ - Exclusive Economic Zone FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization GDP - Gross Domestic Products GPA - Global Programme of Action LBVD - Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department LFME - Livestock, Feedstuff and Milk Products Enterprise MDGs - Millennium Development Goals MFF - Myanmar fisheries Federation MIFAFF - Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries MLFDB - Myanmar livestock and fisheries development bank MLF - Myanmar livestock Federation MVC - Myanmar Veterinary Council MVA - Myanmar Veterinary Association PPS - Probability Proportional to Size RS - Random Start SRS - Simple Random Sampling SI - Sampling Interval UVS - University of Veterinary Science VMS - Vessel Monitoring Systems viii

12 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Myanmar is one of the agriculturally dependent countries, as she has adequate natural resources. In order to develop a country, natural resources as well as human resources are needed. Natural resources are given by nature and when combined with human force and their innovation, the result leads to the country development. Behind this development occurs the steady increase in social welfare and the living conditions of the citizen. In order to enhance the country development, these natural resources should be added with wellestablished policies. Myanmar is enriched in arable agricultural lands, and fertile soil to cultivate various kinds of crops and vegetables. The sufficient land resources (total land area- 167,186 thousand acres) (CSO, 2008) and its fairly tropical monsoon weather are helpful to expand the agriculture sector. There are four main rivers flowing across Myanmar. Furthermore, other sub rivers, rivulet dams, reservoirs are dispersing around the country. All of these are sufficient enough to further the agriculture sector as well as the fishery sector. The ratio of GDP includes three main components. These three components are goods, services and trade value. The former two includes other sub sectors such as agriculture, livestock and fishery sector, energy, electricity and so on. The following figure represents the GDP fulfillment by sectors for the years of and Owing to the data from Directorate of Livestock and Fisheries cited in Fishery Statistics ( ) by Department of Fisheries (DOF), livestock and fishery sector perform as a fraction of country GDP development, with 7.6 percent in and 7.5 percent in respectively. Livestock and fishery sector provides more GDP percentage than the other sectors except agriculture, trade, processing and manufacturing, and transport sector. Therefore, it can be 1

13 said that livestock and fishery sector has become one of the important sectors in country economy development. Figure 1.1 GDP Fulfillments by Sector GDP (%) GDP (%) Agriculture Trade Processing and Manufacturing Livestock and Fishery Transport Construciton Rentals and Others Social Communications Mining Forestry Energy Financial Electric Source: Directorate of Livestock and Fisheries cited in Fishery Statistics ( ) This study is focused on the main players of livestock and fishery sector. The fishermen community consists of public servants, traditional fishermen, subsistence fishermen, the workers in aquaculture farms, cold store, etc. In this labor population, most of the people are working as workers on daily wages and contract workers. More detailed information will be provided in chapter 4 of this paper. In this paper the chapters will proceed as follows. Chapter 1 is organized with introduction, literature review and research methods. Chapter 2 is composed of fishery sector in Myanmar. Chapter 3 describes fishermen community in Myanmar. Chapter 4 includes the 2

14 requirements and difficulties of Myanmar fishermen community. This chapter is conducted through the findings of a small sample survey and analyzing the roots of difficulties in fishermen community. Finally Chapter 5 ends this paper with recommendation and conclusion. This paper is expected to be regarded as a reflection of the status of fishermen community in Myanmar. By studying and analyzing the statistical data, it has revealed the requirements and necessities of the fishermen community in their daily life. After fulfilling their requirements, these workers can participate as a fraction of country economy development. This is the main idea of this paper. 1.1 Literature Review This literature review covers with three portions. The first portion includes how fish and fish products are important for human beings. The second portion contains the advantage and disadvantage of using modern technologies in fishery industry and water resources management from depletion and overfish problem. Finally, this section concludes with the requirements of this community Basic and Essential role of Fish and Fish products Fish is highly nutritious, rich in micronutrients, minerals, essential fatty acids and proteins, and represents a valuable supplement to diets otherwise lacking essential vitamins and minerals. (FAO, 2007) Water resources are renewable resources. In addition, fishery resources are also renewable. This results in the incline in the fishing industry. The state of world fisheries and aquaculture 2006 stated that the export value for fish and fish products had increased up to 16.5 billion in 1984 and to 75 billion in 2004 respectively. The rate showed the 51 percent growth compared to the rates which soared from Interestingly, these numbers pointed 3

15 out the fishery sector as a profitable business. On the other hand every citizen has a right to enjoy with water resources and fishing business of a country. These reasons demanded the fishery sector to play as a major role of the country economy development. Let s move on to the current trend of people preferences. People preferences put a great effect on fishery sector The need for simple meals that are ready to eat and easy to cook has thus become more important. (FAO, 2007) Due to the economic growth, people s income is also getting high. When their income has increased they have a wide variety of choices for their daily consumption. These choices consist of fish as well as other kinds of food. Besides the growth, people behavior and their life style have also changed. Nowadays people are attempting to save time everywhere. In addition, the number of working women is relatively higher than the past decades. So, time is precious for human daily life. For their daily consumption, the status of being easy to cook and good for health has become their first priority. Fish can fulfill most of human requirements. Fish include enough proteins for human. It does not take time to cook. For those reasons, the consumption for fish has gradually risen. Per Capita consumption of fish in the world improved from 9.0 kg in 1961 to estimated 16.5 kg in 2003 (FAO, 2007). Depending on the human requirements and consumer preferences, the market trend is also changing. As a result the market for the fish and fish products is predicted to expand in the future. In year 2001, United Nations Development Programme Millennium Development Goals, or MDGs, were designated. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger is one of the goals from this program. To eradicate extreme poverty, people need income, and of course they need a job opportunity for their income. Earth appears as a big blue ball from the space. Earth is the only planet in the solar system that has water. Nearly 70 percent of Earth s surface is covered by water (Saddleback, 2008, p3). The fact that70 percent of earth is covered with water necessarily deduces that there are abundant and sufficient water resources 4

16 in the world. As already mentioned, water resources are generally taken to be renewable resources. Depending on these water resources, people can get an opportunity to do the business. In order to achieve this goal, fishery sector can provide a particular way. The fishery sector can support three factors to achieve this goal. Firstly, fish and fishery products can provide humans with required proteins. Secondly, for this reason and consumer preferences, the market size for fishery sector has increased. As mentioned as before, the export trade value for the fish and fish products is increasing from time to time. If the market size grows, the benefit and profit from the fishery sector will also show an upward trend. Finally, due to the reason of renewable water resources and the market size of the fishery sector, people can create as many job opportunities as possible from the fishery sector. In these ways the fishery sector contributes the goal of Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by earning the regular income from the fishing industry Technology in fishery sector and Water Resources Management As a consequence of using modern technologies, in fishery sector can there be both advantage and disadvantage. The advantage is Fishing technology developments are generally geared towards improving the efficiency and cost effectiveness of fishing activities or fish processing. (OECD, 2001, p117) Using the technologies in fishery industry can accelerate the fishing process to become active. However, by using these technologies, These technologies increase the share of living marine resources that are potentially harvestable, and so have contributed to the overfishing of many fish stocks (OECD, 2001, p117). Modern technology can necessarily lead to the problem of overfishing and depletion of fish stocks. Nowadays, the number of the global population has steeply increased. In this current 5

17 year, the world population is estimated by the United State Census Bureau to be 6.8 billion. According to their expectation, in year 2050 the population will increase to 9.3 billion indeed (Infoplease, 2010). In fact, the consumption of fish and fish products has also increased. Surprisingly, the total world fisheries exporting are million tonnes in the year 2000 and million tonnes in the year 2005 accordingly. The total human consumption is 96.9 million tonnes in 2000 and in 2005 respectively. The purpose of non-food use for fish and fish products are 34.2 million tonnes in 2000 and 34.4 million tonnes in 2005 according to the report of FAO in As a consequence of these factors, the percentage of exploiting and overfishing has increased. FAO monitored the fish stocks starting from According to these data the fish stocks were overexploited at 10 percent in 1974 and increased to the 25 percent from 1990 to present. This reason becomes a major challenge and threat to the fish stocks. That is the reason why all of the nations around the world pay attention to protect the fish stocks from depletion. Here, another modern technology has been conducted in fishing industry: Vessel Monitoring System (VMS). According to the explanation from FAO regarding the VMS, in order to provide the fishing vessels with safely fishing activities, Vessel Monitoring System has been introduced, which is costly and mostly used by commercial fishing vessels. Each fishing vessel needs to register for VMS program. After registering, each vessel needs to install the VMS unit in their fishing vessel and this unit is in connection with the fishery monitoring agency. Depending on the allowable fishing species, the place of fishing for a particular fishing vessel is defined. After tracing from VMS unit, the monitoring agency can provide this fishing vessel with geographical information such as territorial boundaries, restricted areas and physical features. The fishing vessel can know their fishing vessel is operating in the allowable area or not. In addition through this system can support not only the vessel security but also the fishery workers safety. Through this system can deter the 6

18 fishing vessels from illegal ways of fishing and the information from investigating the location of fishing vessels can also report the target area of fishing vessels. As a consequence, the monitoring agency can estimate if these vessels are working only for the allowable fish species or not. VMS can support the fishing industry to become effective. Currently, VMS program has been implemented in fourteen countries. According to the (McGoodwinJames, 2001) In their small-scale fishing communities the result can often reduce the abilities to purchase technologies that are badly needed for development, or which are merely needed for staying in business. Under the small scale fishermen community includes the traditional fishermen and subsistence fishermen. The same author pointed out Nearly 95 % of the world s fishers are small-scale fishers (Safina, 1995 cited in McGoodwinJames, 2001). Lack of technology can increase the number of small scale fishery workers. As similarly as before, the number of daily workers can also increase, resulting from this lack of technology. The same author (McGoodwinJames, 2001) highlighted that education is one of the lacking variables in this society. If this education variable is not working, other variables could not work well such as lack of knowledge and difficult to communicate with surrounding. That is the reason why education is the essential indicator to develop these societies. 7

19 1.2 Research Methods The principal objective of this survey conducted was to study the economic status and requirements of fishermen community. Among the fishery areas in Myanmar, one of the major fishing regions; Ayeyarwady Division was selected as main domain area. Then according to the suggested from the authorize person of Department of Fisheries (DoF), Daw Nyein village tract in Phyar Pone township was a typical fishing village tract. To select a sample of fishermen s households in Daw Nyein village tract, two-stage probability proportional to size (PPS) sampling design with villages as first-stage units and fishermen s household in the village as second-stage units was adopted. There were seven villages in Daw Nyein village tract. The required sampling frame was obtained from township administrative department of Phyar Pone twonship. Since village were large and differ considerably in the number of fishermen s households in the village, it was desirable to select them PPS sampling, size being the number of fishermen s households in the village. A sample of 5 villages was selected PPS, with replacement. From each selected village, a selection of 3 percent of fishermen s households was selected as a second stage of PPS. After selecting the household sample size for each village, the households are chosen with simple random sampling (SRS), without replacement. A total of 100 sample fishermen s households were selected. The sampling design and detail calculations were shown in Appendix A. An interview of these sample households was conducted using questionnaires and these questionnaires are attached in appendix B. Through this process, the secondary research materials and sources are taken from published books, electronic databases and reputable research sources such as FAO Fishery Statistic. This study also includes international fishery industries websites such as National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives and the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery. For the Myanmar fishery industry, all of the data are taken from the official 8

20 publications, documents, CDs, and websites, the data of which are published from the related ministries. 9

21 CHAPTER 2 FISHERY SECTOR IN MYANMAR 2.1 Geographical Background Basic Topography Facts The Union of Myanmar is situated in Southeast Asia. The bordering country in the north and northeast portion is the People s Republic of China, while the Lao People s Democratic Republic and the Kingdom of Thailand are in the east and southeast respectively. Whereas the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal are located in the south of Myanmar, the People s Republic of Bangladesh and the Republic of India are located in the west. These mentioned topography facts are shown in figure 2.1. The area of Myanmar is 261,228 square miles (677,000 square kilometers) (CSO, 2008). This area can be divided into three portions. These portions are the western hill region, the central valley region and the eastern hill region. Seven states and seven divisions are located and composed in these three regions. As for the population in Myanmar, in the period of year , the total population is million with an annual growth rate of 1.75 percent. The population for males is million and that of females is million (CSO, 2008). Myanmar has three main seasons. These are the hot season, the rainy season and the cold season. The hot season runs from March to mid-may, the rainy season runs from the end of the hot season to October. The cold season runs from November to February. Myanmar does not have the extremely cold and hot weather. Usually Myanmar has a tropical monsoon climate. 10

22 Figure 2.1: Union of Myanmar Source: Myanmar Fishery Statistics

23 2.1.2 Geographical Circumstances for Fishery Industry Myanmar has sufficient land and water resources, all of which are suitable for livestock and fishing industry. The vast amounts of water resources give strongly encouragement to the development of the fishing industry. This chapter will briefly introduce the basic water resources and participants of the fishing industry in Myanmar. The detailed functions, procedures and policies are described in the following chapters. In order to illustrate the Myanmar fishing industry, the functions from Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries cannot be ignored in the fishing industry process. In year DOF the Fishery Statistics book was published. After studying this Fishery Statistics ( ) the following explanations of this chapter can be taken into account to show the readers how Myanmar fishing industry is doing. The coastal line of Myanmar started from the estuary of Naaf river to the Kawthaung. The length of coast line is approximately 1385 miles (2832 kilometers). The continental shelf is 228,781 sq kilometer from the base line. The sovereign right for Myanmar is 12 nautical miles from the base line and the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ 1 ) is 200 perpendicular nautical miles from the base line to sea. The total fishing area is 486,000 sq kilometers including EEZ. Myanmar defines the continental shelf form the shore line until base line. Inshore fishing is allowed for citizens from the base line to the territorial sea. Offshore fishing for foreign fishing vessels are allowed from the territorial sea until EEZ area. The following figure shows the Myanmar coastal line and the fishing zone area. 1 EEZ is defined for each country to manage their water resources. The distance for the EEZ is 200 nautical mile from the baseline to the sea. The coastal state has right to manage all of living and non living water resources within this limited area. (Oxford companion to ships and the sea, 2006) 12

24 IV Department of Fisheries Figure 2.2 Myanmar Coastal Area and Fishing Zone Fishing Grounds of Myanmar (Zone wise ) A1 a A2 SITTWAY 20 A3 A4 b A5 A6 30 c A7 A8 A9 A10 DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES A 2 A11 A12 A13 d A14 A15 e A16 A17 A18 A19 A20 THANDWE THANDWE B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 30 f GWA 30 B6 B7 B8 B9 B10 17 B11 B12 B13 B14 B15 g YANGON B 3 B16 B17 B18 B19 4 h i B20 j D1 D2 D C1 C2 C3 k C4 C5 BASE LINE D4 D5 D6 D7 D C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 TERRITORIAL SEA D9 D10 D11 D12 D13 D14 D15 D16 D17 D18 YE YE l C 5 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C C25 6 D 7 10 D19 D20 D21 D22 D23 m D24 D25 D26 D27 D28 D 29 DAWEI E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 E6 11 E8 E9 E10 n E11 E12 E7 o E13 E14 E15 E16 E17 E18 p MYEIK MYEIK Zone-1 13 E 14 E20 q E21 E22 E23 E24 E Zone-2 Zone-3 Allocated Fishing grounds for Foreign Fishing Vessel Reserved Area F 1 15 F 8 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F9 F10 F11 F12 F13 F14 r 16 F s F F16 F17 F18 F19 F20 F21 18 t KAWTHOUNG u v Source: Fishery Statistics

25 Alongside of this coastal area, one state and two divisions are located. According to the Myanmar Fishery statistics this coastal line can be divided into three parts for fishing ground. These are the Rakhine fishing ground, Ayeyarwady fishing ground and Tanintharyi fishing ground. These three fishing grounds are existed in Rakhine state, Ayeyarwady Division and Tanintharyi Division. In the above figure, zone 1 represents the Rakhine fishing area, zone 2 represents the Ayeyarwady fishing ground and finally zone 3 stands for the Tanintharyi fishing zone. i. Rakhine Fishing Ground The Rakhine fishing ground is located in the eastern portion of Myanmar. The length for this coastal line starts from Naaf River to Mawdin point and the covered area is 56,790 sq km. ii. Ayeyarwady Fishing Ground This fishing ground is located in the Ayeyarwaddy region, the southern portion of Myanmar. The delta area of Ayeyarwaddy fishing ground is 152,038 sq km. Main rivers such as Ayeyarwady river, Sittaung River and Than Lwin River, flow down into the Ayeyarwady delta region. 14

26 iii. Tanintharyi Fishing Ground This fishing ground is located in the south portion of Myanmar and covers from the south of Mottama up to the estuary of Pachan River. The main length of coast is 1200 km. This fishing ground consists of 800 islands, covering the area of about sq km. These three fishing grounds are located beside the coastal area zone and helpful for marine fishery production development and the rural populations around these fishing grounds are highly dependent on the fishing industry Types of Fisheries The fishing industry basically covers with two types of fisheries. These are Marine Fishery and Inland Fishery. Marine fishery includes inshore and offshore fisheries. Inland fishery also contains leasable fisheries, open fisheries and aquaculture fisheries. In 1954 aquaculture started in Myanmar. Aquaculture is farming fish, encouraging the fresh water fish and commercial fish seeds production. These aquaculture fish ponds are situated around the whole country and the total area of aquaculture ponds is mentioned in fishery statistic and is acres in year Currently the paddy fish cum culture has become pervasive among the farmers and in 2007 there were 13,122 acres of paddy fish farm around the states and divisions. Inland fisheries are located in four main rivers, namely the Ayeyarwady River, Chin Dwin River, Sittaung River and Than Lwin River. The data from Myanmar Fishery Statistics ( ) including natural lakes, ponds, sub-rivers etc. inland waters cover 8.2 million 15

27 hectares (82000 sq km) in which 1.3 million hectares (13000 sq km) is permanent and the remaining portion is a seasonally inundated flood plain area. Over this tremendous inland water body leasable fisheries, open fisheries and aquaculture fisheries are growing well. Leasable fishery is being conducted on a natural flood plain. The working area is defined by DoF. DoF allows individual or groups to access the leasable fishery and access control with a license. They have a chance to land the fishery resources in their boundary area during the appropriate period. Open fishery is the process of catching fresh water fish in streams, ponds and rivers. Inshore and offshore fisheries are considered in the marine fisheries. Inshore fishing boats can operate from the shoreline to 5 nautical miles in the northern area and 10 nautical miles in the southern area. Offshore fishery area starts from the end of the inshore fishery area to Exclusive Economic Zone EEZ. The limitations of the inshore and offshore fishery are as follows: In the case of inshore fishery, they allow both traditional and commercial fishing vessels with less than 30 feet and 12 horsepower (HP) engine. For the offshore fisheries, they allow the fishing vessels with more than 30 feet and 12 HP engine. Figure 2.7 can help the readers for clear understanding. From the shore line (the beginning of blue color) until the territorial sea is the area for inshore fishing industry. Traditional fishermen and the national fishing vessels have the rights to do the business in this defined area. However, the traditional fishing boat (nonpowered) can only operate until the base line. Non-powered boats can face with the difficulty over the base line area due to the weather conditions, less technology materials and 16

28 the non-powered engine boats. The national fishing vessels (power boats) can work until the territorial sea line. Offshore fishing industry is allowed from the territorial sea line until EEZ. Generally, the fishing gears for the inshore fisheries are drift net, gill net and long line. For the marine fishery industries, it is allowable to use the trawl net and purse seine. 2.2 Policy Implementation by Ministry of Livestock and Fishery The Ministry of livestock and fisheries actively participates in the process of policy implementation, natural resource management and quality fish seeds production. These three processes are major functions of Ministry of Livestock and Fishery. On the other hand it cooperates with private companies and non-government organizations (NGOs). The objectives of both public and private sector are to increase the production of fish and fish products, to fulfill the domestic consumption and so on. The policies and objectives of Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries are as follows: 1. To promote all round development in the livestock and fisheries sector. 2. To increase meat and fish production for domestic consumption and share the surplus with neighboring countries. 3. To encourage the expansion of marine and freshwater aquaculture. 4. To upgrade the socio-economic status of livestock and fisheries communities. There are six departments under the Ministry of Livestock and Fishery. In order to achieve above policies and objectives, these departments have been assigned the tasks and responsibilities by the Ministry of Livestock and Fishery. In addition there are another six NGO organizations which have cooperated with these six departments to speed up the function of livestock and fishery industry in Myanmar. These organizations are: 17

29 Figure 2.7: Organization Structure of Ministry of Livestock and Fishery Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Departments NGOs Decorate of Livestock and Fisheires (DOLF) Myanmar livestock and fisheries development bank (MLFDB) Department of Apiculture (DOA ) Academy of livestock and fishery science (ALF) Department of Fisheries (DOF) Myanmar Fisheries Federation (MFF) Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department (LBVD) Myanmar livestock Federation (MLF) Livestock, Feedstuff and Milk Products Enterprise (LFME ) Myanmar Veterinary Council (MVC) University of Veterinary Science (UVS) Myanmar Veterinary Association (MVA) Source: Fishery Statistic Among these six departments and six nongovernmental organizations Department of Fishery (DOF) and Myanmar Fisheries Federation (MFF) are directly involved with the process of fishery sector promotion. The detailed explanation regarding with these two organizations is described in the following sections Functions and responsibilities by Department of Fishery This section is intended to give more information of the policies and plans currently carried out by the DoF. 18

30 The national policy on fishery sector are as follows ~ 1. To promote all-round development in the fisheries sector; 2. To increase fish production for domestic consumption and share the surplus with neighboring country; 3. To encourage the expansion of marine and freshwater aquaculture; 4. To upgrade the socio-economic status of fishery communities. The responsibilities and managements of DoF are 1. Conservation and rehabilitation of fishery resources; 2. Promotion of fisheries researches and surveys; 3. Collection and compilation of fishery statistics and information; 4. Extension services; 5. Supervision of fishery sectors; 6. Sustainability of fishery resources. The national fisheries development plans under the DoF are as follows: 1. Planning for supporting to expansion of coastal aquaculture. 2. The Department of Fisheries initiated environment-friendly schemes in intensive shrimp farming, and is encouraging the private farmers; 3. Provide financial assistance and loans through "Livestock and Fisheries Development Bank". 4. Expansion of rice-fish culture program for development of rural area. 5. Three years' shrimp culture development plan (2 nd phase). 6. Planning for public awareness for conservation of fishery resources. These policies reflect how the role of fishery sector is running in Myanmar. For the sake of the development of the fishery sector in Myanmar, natural resource management is also important. Via the natural resource management, quality fish seeds can be produced, fish 19

31 production can be increased and these will be enough for domestic consumption. Here natural resource management is important again. As mentioned as before, via monitoring from FAO, fish stocks are faced with the overfishing problem. In order to combat the overfishing problem, the countries have been controlling the fishing activities by setting the functions such as Total Allowable Catch (TAC) 2 and license management. In Myanmar, the rate of fish catching decreased after introducing the trawler fishing in The catching rate of shrimp in 2003 was only 34 percent in year The other commercial fish species also decreased by 50 percent in year 2008 (Khin Maung Soe, 2008). To cover the decreasing rate of catching the fish stocks Ministry of livestock and fisheries encourage to maintain the natural resources and implement the natural resources management policies as follow. 1. Set up strategy to increase fish production by stocking fish and prawn seeds into dams, reservoirs and natural water bodies; 2. Lease holders have to hold fish seeds in pens, to release at the beginning of next season. In this way, there is a significant increase in fish production by such culture based capture system in Myanmar; 3. Promoting education programs related to conservation and rehabilitation of fisheries resources. In order to rescue the fish stocks from decreasing, aquaculture system was introduced, which can promote the inland fishery culture. And also aquaculture farms perform as a cushion to be enough for the domestic consumption. Enforcing the modern technology can get the quality products and to relieve the water resources from depletion. Another resource 2 A fishery management approach to assign an annual quota that, if exceeded, will terminate the fishery for that year, the total allowable catch is set at a level to prevent a catch so large that the stock will be over fished. (McGraw-Hill, 2003) 20

32 management is restricting the fishing process during the spawning period. Time duration of spawning runs from June to the end of September. All of these above mentioned policies are intended to improve the Myanmar fishery sector. To upgrade the socio-economic status of fishery communities is one of the national polices and intended to those people who are participating as a main player of fishery sector development. Other organization, which is closely related and working with DoF is Myanmar Fisheries Federation (MFF). This federation is impossible to omit from Myanmar fishing industry. The functions and responsibilities of MFF are as follows. Myanmar Fisheries Federation (MFF) is the highest NGO commercial organization. The main objective of MFF is to develop the fishery industries while this association also performs as a medium between the government and the private sectors. There are also other associations under MFF. These associations are associated with MFF and participate to contribute to the fishery sector development. These associations include the Myanmar shrimp association, Myanmar fish farmer association, Myanmar fishery products processors and exporters association, Myanmar aqua feed association, crab entrepreneurs association and eel entrepreneurs association. To speed up the fishery sector, cooperation is its main issue. MFF has actively cooperated with DoF and supported it in many ways. The functions of MFF (DOF, ) are as follows: 1. MFF is able to support application made by its members to Department of Fisheries to undertake fisheries and aquaculture activities. 2. MFF also can recommend application to the Livestock and Fisheries Bank for loan application. 3. MFF has a good support from the government and can negotiate directly for members benefits. 21

33 4. MFF also helps with negotiation of selling and harvesting of fish; and shrimp and working collectively. At the same time MFF is trying to meet with its own objectives. In summary, the objectives of MFF are to exchange the information and knowledge through the seminars and meetings among the members. MFF places emphasis on meeting the objectives, policies and regulation in the process of promoting the fishing industry in Myanmar. Introducing and distributing the information regarding the technology among the members is of high importance. The first priority is to meet with domestic consumption and to share the surplus with the other countries. In this case MFF mainly focuses on producing the good quality fish products. All of the citizens have a chance to be a member of MFF. Through these objectives, MFF plays the role of fishery sector in the overall enhancement of the fishing industries in Myanmar Policy Implementation in Fishery sector by South Korea Ahead to Myanmar fishery sector development, some policies and implementation from other ministries and organizations are highlighted under this section. The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MIFAFF) has established various kinds of policies for fishery sector development in South Korea. MIFAFF forces the private sector to produce more fishery products as well as agriculture products. MIFAFF implements agro-fishery functions to get the profit from both fishery and agriculture sector. Agro-fishery means parallel running of farming and fishing at the same time. When the farmers are planting the paddy, they put the fry fish into the cultivated land. The paddy plant and fry fish are growing at the same time. Finally the farmers can harvest both paddy and fish. Fish farmers can get two kinds of advantages at the same time. Also MIFAFF helps and encourages to investigate the market trend for each product produced by the private sector. The volunteer groups are 22

34 allowed to get visits to the remote region to create the flexible rural communities development. Funding section has increased for the enterprise and education. These policies have highlighted some additional ideas to improve the fishery sector development in Myanmar. These policies emphasize the cooperation among the government, the private sectors and the workers. Government has developed policies, market investigation and research and development functions and allowed the private sector to do the business freely. It provides workers with financial transactions and fulfills their social requirements. Private sectors follow the rules, regulations and policies from the government and focus on developing the agriculture and fishery sector development. The workers from this area are directly connected with the private enterprises, and agriculture and fishery sector development is emphasized. National Federation of Fisheries Cooperation (NFFC) stands for the fishery sector and fishermen community in South Korea. The main purpose of this organization is to support the fishermen communities in financial transaction. They offer social contribution programs, training programs, scholarship programs, and foreign crew programs for creating job opportunities. Also a mutual credit business system and insurance system have been established, as part of the mutual assistance of fishermen where it pays special attention to increasing the production of the fishing industry as well as promoting its economic status by pooling and supplying funds (NFFC, ). A high compensation insurance system has been offered for fishermen. Main reason of this mutual credit business is to get benefit for sides, the development of fishery sector and the improvement of the fishermen community Private sector in Fishery Industry 23

35 In 1962, under the socialist economy system, commercial fishing was difficult to start. In 1970, People s Pearl and Fisheries Cooperation (PPFC) was formed and introduced with the commercial and fisheries exports (Khin Maung Soe, 2008). Since those days, the public and private sectors have been co-operating with each other in fishery industry. The private companies must have the approval from the DoF. Types of companies are different depending on their transaction in the market. This private sector involves fishery products factories, cold stores, ice plants, export, import companies, leasable fishery companies and fish farming companies. Four hundred and nine private companies are working for exporting the fishery products. A total numbers of 84 cold stores are in process around the states and divisions. Three hundred and seventy two ice plants are currently working for marine products around the state and division. The number of ice plants and the location of these ice plants are shown in the following table; Table 2.1: Number of Ice Plants by State and Division No. State and Division Number of Plants 1 YANGON TANINTHAYI 42 3 RAKHINE 60 4 AYEYARWADY 75 5 MON 39 6 MANDALAY 8 7 SHAN 3 TOTAL 372 Source: Fisheries Statistic ( ) 24

36 For the fish farming process, the companies need to apply to DoF for land area. After defining the land area from DoF they can start their business. According to the fees, DoF charges every month. DoF provides those companies with technologies, advice and quality fish seeds. By cooperating among the private sector and DoF, the achievement is illustrated in the following figures; Figure 2.8: Total Area of Aquaculture Ponds Acre Years Source: Myanmar Fisheries Statistic ( ) The process of leasable fishery is done with an auction system among companies and individuals. The leasable fishery areas are set on the natural flood plain and lakes. The DoF defines the area for each working area and distribute to the private individuals and organizations. The allowable time period for the working area is 1 year. To sum up the above data, the involvement of private sector is playing an essential role in fishery sector of Myanmar. The government also allows the private sector participation in fishery sector progress. Through the co-operation of the private sector and the public sector, the development of fishermen community and economy is being accelerated. Private and public sectors are interdependent with each other, focusing on the progress of fishing industry in Myanmar. 25

37 2.3 Contribution factors from Fishery Sector Fish and fish products are the daily dish for Myanmar household families. Households enjoy preparing the fish and fish products in various ways such as fresh fish, dried fish, shrimp paste, ngapi yay kyo (fish paste sauce) etc. The household expenditure of fish is higher than that of other protein products like meat and eggs. The following figure represents the household expenditure on essential foods. In 2007, the expenditure of fish and fish products is followed as the second highest after the rice expenditure. According to consumer preferences, the fishery sector has become more important and has to improve the production of fish and fish products. Figure 2.9: Household Expenditure for Food and Beverages Food and Beverages Other miscellaneous food Milk and milk products Sugar and other food Beverages Spices and condiments Fruits and vegetables Cooking oil and fats Fish and Fish Product Eggs Meat Pulses Rice 0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 Kyats Source: Statistical Year Book 2008, Central Statistical Organization The production of fish stocks has sharply surged under the sustainable natural resources, favorable weather conditions, actively encourage and support by government, harmonically cooperation between the government and non-governmental organizations and 26

38 participation from the private sectors. The following figure represents the production of fish by different types of fisheries. The production is increasing year by year as shown. Figure 2.10: Fish Production by Type of Fisheries '000 Metric Ton Marine Fisheries Open Fisheries Leasable Fisheries Culture Fisheries Years Source: Fishery Statistics ( ) The main reason for promoting the fishery industry is to fulfill the domestic consumption and to share the surplus with neighboring countries. After promoting the total production of fish and fish products they have to be divided for the domestic consumption and export. Domestic consumption is the first priority in this sense. 27

39 The following table can represent fish supply per capita. Table 2.2: Per Capita Fish Supply by Year Year Population Production Per Capita Million Metric ton Supply (Kg) Source: Fishery Statistics ( ) The above table shows the growth in population alongside the growth in production and supply per capita. Consumer preferences and enough production for human consumption are driving forces for the fishery sector to become the contributor in the development of the country s economy. After fulfillment for human consumption, the rest of production is used for export. This is another powerful factor to develop the fishery sector. The following figures represents the export of fishery products and value earning the US $ by exporting the fishery products. 28

40 Figure 2.11: Export of Fishery Products Metric Ton Years Source: Fishery Statistic ( ) Figure 2.12: Fishery Products Export by US Dollar US$ Years Source: Fishery Statistic ( ) The above explanation highlighted the current trend of fishery sector in Myanmar. The geographical situation supports the fishing industry to do well and help to extend the fishery sector in the future. From this point of view, it is necessary to give the information regarding the policy implementation by the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries. Through these policies, the readers can understand how Myanmar s fishery sector develops year by year. After introducing the current fishery sector s functions this is the time to present the fishermen community in Myanmar. This community is the background with the main players 29

41 of the Myanmar fishery sector. To complete and achieve the policy implemented by the government, the functions of the participants in this sector are important. If the participants cannot follow these laid down policies due to their economic status and their social requirements, these policies as well as this sector is likely to fail to develop in the right way. To implement the policies in correct way, the authorize organizations needs to encourage the main workers and players of this sector. In this sense, the authorized person needs to know and tries to understand what kinds of uncomfortable factors can force them to delay in development. By reducing and adjusting these uncomfortable factors, this sector can speed up in the right way. For this reason, this paper needs to place a more in-depth look at the fishermen community of Myanmar. The following chapter is to explain the readers on how Myanmar fishermen community is working in the fishery sector and what kinds of instruments are required for their lifestyle development. 30

42 CHAPTER 3 FISHERMEN COMMUNITY IN MYANMAR During the prewar period the fisheries revenue was approximately 7.5 % of the annual total land revenue, and provided employment to more than 70,000 (55,000 permanent and 16,000 temporary) fisheries workers in the early 1930s (U. Khin, 1948 cited in Khin Maung Soe, 2008). Since 1930, the fishery sector has supported the country s revenue and created opportunities for the citizens. The vast natural resources have allowed the people to enjoy their life. 3.1 Labor Participation in Fishery Sector In Myanmar, fishermen societies or communities disperse through the coastal areas and most of the population living in those areas is directly or indirectly involved in the fishery industry. Basically the fishery workers can be divided as follows; (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) Inshore fishery workers Offshore fishery workers Fishery workers working in fish, shrimp and leasable fishery farms Fishery workers working in ice plants and cold storage Additionally, the official staff, technicians, professionals and owners of vessels, machine operators from factories are also included in the labor force for fishery industry. In Myanmar, a labor force survey was conducted by Ministry of Labor in According to this survey data, labor participation by industry and occupation are illustrated in following tables 3.1 and 3.2. In these tables, the labor force in agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing industries exceeds the other industries, with a total of percent, or more than 31

43 half of the total labor force out of 100 percentage. The percentage of labor force by occupation is shown in Table 3.2. The number and percentage ratio of these tables can show the readers to get a general scope of how Myanmar people emphasize on agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishery industries. Most of the people are working for these industries. The following facts can be extracted from the following tables. i The number of labor (6,024,000) under the industry of agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishery is greater than the other industries. ii A few numbers of professional workers (14,000) are working for the skilled agricultural and fishery workers (3,480,000). Accordingly, the statistical data from DoF expressed in 2008 that there were 887,026 full time workers, 923,800 occasional workers, 606,097 part time workers and 785,000 status unspecified workers, totally 3,201,923 workers, working in the fishery sector. Apparently a few numbers of full time workers are in fishery industry and the rest of the workers are occasional, part time workers and status unspecified workers. The full time workers include the professionals, supervisors and foremen from aquaculture ponds, export and import factories, ice plants and cold stores. Full time workers are measured with regular income and reasonably supported by the office or other international organizations. The remaining statistic highlighted the daily/temporary workers. These workers are working for daily and short time period on daily wages. The workers are working at the leasable fisheries, working at the aquaculture ponds on daily wages and fishing through the inland and marine fishing to solve their daily consumption. These kinds of workers are working as part time workers in the fishery industry. Part time workers receive daily wages, selling the commodities for their daily livelihood and consumption and exchanging goods in-kind among the people, mainly in the rural areas. 32

44 Industry Agriculture Hunting, Forestry and Fishing Mining and Quarrying Table 3.1: Distribution of Employed Population by Occupation and Industry 1990 (Labor Force Survey, 1990) (By Industry) Manufacturing Electricity Gas and Water Construction Wholesale and Retail Trade and Restaurants and Hotels Transport, Storage and Commun- ication Financial Institution Community, Social and Personal Services (in Thousand) Activities not Adequately Defined Total % Source: Myanmar Data 2007, Central Statistical Organization Total Occupation/ Legislators and Senior Officials and Managers Table 3.2: Distribution of Employed Population by Occupation and Industry 1990 (Labor Force Survey, 1990) (By Occupation) Professionals Technical and Associate Profess- Ionals Clerks Services Workers and Shop and Market Sales Workers Skilled Agricultural and Fishery Workers Craft and Related Workers Plant and Machine Operator and Assemblers Elementary Occupation (in Thousand) Total % Agriculture, Hunting, Forestry and Fishing Source: Myanmar Data 2007, Central Statistical Organization 33

45 After introducing the modern technology and promoting the exports in the fishery sector, factories and other commercial organizations have emerged in the fishery industry. The trend of the working behavior and occupations has also changed, as the fishery sector develops together with contracted jobs and daily workers in factories and plants. As a result the number of job opportunities and temporary workers can increase. Additionally official staffs have to take the responsibility of official transactions, implementation of ministry s plan and policies, quality fish stocks production, cooperating with other ministries and external organizations and preparation of official documents. According to the fisheries statistical data, there were 110 fishery township officers scattered in 370 townships around the country. Their tasks and responsibilities are to collect the fishery statistical data and at the same time they have their own official tasks also. The informal interview with the official staff from DoF was conducted. Based on this informal interview the following explanations are out. In order to work at a fishing vessel individuals or groups of fishing workers they have to contact with vessel owners or fishing companies. The companies arrange a fishing license for both of vessels and workers, as well as the company supports them with fuel, fishing gears and ice for the vessels. The processes of salary payment for fishing workers are handled through a contract. The duration for a fleet is 70 days. Here again can occur the temporary / daily workers. At least 5 vessels are working together in each fleet for the sake of increasing the work volume. The restrictions on fishing volumes for catching are written down in the fishing license. The head of vessel has the responsibility to follow the rules and regulations mentioned in the license and manages the crew members. 34

46 3.2 General Findings in Main Fishery Area Myanmar has seven states and seven divisions. In these states and divisions, some of the places, especially in some of delta and coastal regions, are suitable to expand the fishery industry as well. The following table includes a state and two divisions, composing 8 million people. The main fishing ground of Myanmar has been already introduced in Chapter (2). For this reason these states and divisions have become the target area for researching of this paper. Table (3.4) shows that urban population and the rural population are 1.2 million and 6.7 million respectively. Most of the rural populations are involved in the fishing process. However, in these following states and divisions, not only the rural populations but also the urban populations are participating in fishing activities. Table 3.3 Urban and Rural Population in Main Fishery Area State and Division Total 000 Urban 000 Rural 000 Tanintharyi Division Rakhine State Ayeyarwady Division Source: Statistical Year Book (2008) After presenting the population in both rural and urban areas of the main fishery industry, it is essential to look closely at their household expenditures. Amongst these household expenditures, education, medical care, stationary and school supplies and recreation expenses are included as the non-food household expenditures. These expenditures perform as basic expenditures to upgrade the living standard of every community. After comparing these expenditures for both urban and rural area of the main fishing region, the results are shown in the following figure. 35

47 Figure 3.1: Essential Non-Food Household expenditure in Main Fishery Area Percent (%) Stationery and school supplies Medical care Recreation Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural Education Thanintharyi Rakhine Ayeyarwady State and Division Source: Statistical Year Book (2008) According to the table 3.3, the number of rural populations is higher than the urban population. However, when comparing the expenditures of these households, the expenses of rural households are less than the urban households. The expenditure for medical care is not too much different. Sometimes the rural area has a higher percentage of expenditures on medical expenses than the urban area. For this condition, even if they use their income for daily consumption, income fluctuation can cause the social difficulties. They can only focus on their daily consumption instead of using their income for health manners. From this sense, imbalance of calories can occur, which can force the rural households to increase their expenses on medical process. In this income fluctuation matter, basically the weather condition and physical conditions are high possible reasons for the fluctuation of their income. If the weather condition is not favorable to the fishermen from the cases of storms in the sea or heavy rain etc, these are major obstacles for fishery workers from earning their income. 36

48 Another thing is that if their physical condition, such as sickness, is not good for their work, their income and their expenditure will be affected. The expenditure for recreation on this graph is as seen in low percentage. Their recreation consists of celebrating the traditional occasions such as donation ceremony, water festival, novitiate ceremony etc. Instead of these recreation processes, most of their expenditures are going to their consumption and medical expenses in rural area. Moreover, the stationery and school supplies are a little bit high in urban area. In rural area, the percentage is almost flat with Y axis. It can be concluded that expenditures for the stationery and school supplies are rare in rural areas such as Rakhine state and Ayeyarwady division. On the other hand, the cost of education is a huge gap between the urban and the rural communities. This figure gives the basic requirements of the rural communities in Myanmar. Consequently, the requirements of the fishermen community from this rural area are highlighted. Some of the reasons for the gap of expenditure between the urban and the rural areas are as follows: it cannot be denied that expenditure is relying on income; if income is high, the household can increase their expenses on foods as well as recreation purposes, education and so on and so forth. Here, another statement comes out. It is necessary to compare the household situation of both the rural and the urban. The people from the rural area have rare opportunities to choose the occupations except regular work such as cultivation and fishing. Urban families have a better chance to find the jobs than the rural population. According to their rank of education, according to their professional fields, good opportunities are within the reach of these people. Many numbers of factories, companies, shops, government offices and international organizations are the places where they can earn and increase their income. The urban population has possibility to grab these opportunities. As a result, their income is high and the household expenditures is also high. Lack of information, conservative society, the 37

49 condition of being difficult to transmit the information to these regions are major obstacles of the lag behind the urban region. In addition, commercial fishing boats and non-commercial fishing boats are included in the following figure. Commercial fishing boats are working with power and noncommercial fishing boats are non-power. Small scale fishery workers include subsistence, traditional workers and rural fishing community. Mostly, small scale fishery workers are working with non-powered boats and non-powered boats were used more than powered boats during the years from 2003 to Apparently in this fishery sector most of the workers are small scale fishery workers and still lack in technology requirement for this community. Figure 3.2: Small Fishing boats by type of Powered and Non-Powered Years Small Fishing Boat Non- Powered Boat Small Fishing Boat Powered Boat Number Source: Fishery Statistics ( ) As mentioned as before, the fishery sector is one of the important sectors in Myanmar. And also the working community in this industry is important. The above explanations have pointed out how fishery workers are conducting in fishery sector. By targeting three main fishing regions, the basic requirements are already expressed. In order to 38

50 give more detailed information for this community and to know exactly what types of requirements are needed for their community, small sample survey was implemented in this main area. The next chapter is to show the findings from this field survey, their weak points and how the roots of these weak points affect this community. 39

51 CHAPTER 4 REQUIREMENTS AND DIFFICULTIES OF MYANMAR FISHERMEN COMMUNITY To know the basic requirements of the fishermen community, the simplest field survey in Ayeyarwady division, the Daw Nyein Village tracts located in Phyar Pone distinct, has been conducted. The major subsistence occupation in this place is fishing. All of the populations are involved directly or indirectly in the fishing activities. 4.1 Field Survey and Analyzed Results The survey started on 23 March 2010 and finished on 30 March The sample questionnaires forms are attached in the appendices section. Among these households only 100 were selected for the sample survey. This main idea of this survey is to highlight the importance of fishermen community in Myanmar. Particularly this survey spotlighted the education, medical care and the requirements accessories in their working life. Within 100 households, 91 male and 9 female household heads are working in the fishery sector. The age distribution is shown in the following figure; Figure 4.1: Age Distribution in Fishery Industry Percent (%) Age (years) Source: Field Survey 40

52 The age limit in this fishery sector is between 20 years and 69 years of age. Mostly the age limits of between 40 to 49 people are working in the fishing industry. The average household size is 5.4 and all of the 100 households are in the fishing process. Seventy nine percent of households are choosing fishing industry only for the reason of regional economy. Four percent of households are in the cultivating process and the rest of 17 percent of workers, they have no chance to choose the other occupation. Another question is whether they want to change their jobs if they have a chance to run other kinds business. The results then emerged. Figure 4.2: Other types of Occupations 50 Percent (%) Cultivation Gov or Company Private Job Trade Other Staff Occupations Source: Field Survey There were 9 percent of people who wanted to choose cultivation as their other occupation and only 5 percent were interested in the government or company staff. Most of the people totally 45 percent of workers wanted to do the private business such as boat owner. Nineteen percent of people wanted to participate in the trade process. In this trade process includes trading the regional products to other villages and cities. Finally, 22 percent of people did not have an idea to change other occupations. 41